Just a Farm Boy
by DatWritingBanana
Summary: Erik and Donnel. Two ordinary Farmers, that is until a fateful day when their village is captured by bandits. The two are forced to flee, and they soon encounter Chrom, the Shepherds, and Olivia. What does fate have in store for two ordinary Farm Boys? Set in Awakening.


**Chapter 1**

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><p><strong>Erik POV<strong>

I awoke to a heavy lump on top of my bed.

"Ugh! Donnel, get off of me!" I groaned, the lump chuckled.

"Morning brother!" Donnel cheekily replied, then got off me. I looked at my 16 year old brother, his purple hair was a mess of curly locks.

"Yeah, yeah. Amusing." I muttered, while climbing out of my warm sanctuary.

"Breakfast!" I heard our mother shout from downstairs.

"Coming!" Donnel and I both shouted, then rushed down the stairs. We saw our mother by the cooking stove. We were hypnotised by the appetising aroma of the food.

"Yum! That smells delicious Ma!" Donnel said hungrily. I nodded, not trusting myself not to drool.

"Gods, by your reactions folk would presume I don't feed ya at all." Mother chuckled. We sat down at the table and ate our breakfast. Little did we know how long it would be until we tasted Mother's cooking again.

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><p><strong>Olivia POV<strong>

The Shepherds marched forward, towards the east of Ylisse. I heard Vaike grumble.

"How much longer are we gonna march for? Teach is getting tired." I heard Chrom, the King of Ylisse, chuckle.

"Really Vaike? Is a little walk going to bring you down?" Vaike instantly straightened, as his body filled with renewed vigour. He seemed eager to outdo his 'rival'. Suddenly Chrom and the rest of the Shepherds stopped.

"We'll rest here for a bit." Chrom announced. Everyone (even Frederick) fell to the floor with exhausted groans.

"Seriously Chrom. Your endurance STILL astounds me." Robin said. He was without a doubt one of the most important people in the army, he was Chrom's loyal friend and the army's tactician. Many people (even some of the Shepherds) idolized his skills with swords and magic. I heard Chrom chuckle.

"Hey Olivia? Do you think you could dance for everyone, maybe that'll raise everyone spirits?" Robin asked me, I felt my face heat up at the prospect of my comrades watching me make a fool of myself while dancing. I nodded numbly. I clambered to my feet and found a clearing where everyone could see me. I took a deep breath, then started dancing. Everyone's jaws dropped and they watched in stunned silence as I performed my favourite routine. After I had finished, I heard the whole army applause, and a couple of soldiers whistled at me! A bush rustling next to me, caught my attention. Everyone stopped clapping, as I peered at the bush curiously. Suddenly there was a demonic roar, and I only had enough time to dodge to the side before a Risen Warrior jumped out from behind the bush, its steel axe whistled through the air beside me and embedded itself in the ground. The Shepherds jumped to their feet.

"It's an ambush!" Stahl yelled. Everyone drew their weapons, I rushed back to the place I had been sitting at and grabbed my sword.

"Everyone! Charge!" Chrom yelled. We rushed towards the Risen onslaught.

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><p><strong>Erik POV<strong>

After finishing our breakfast, Donnel and I got changed into our clothes (we both wore simple blue shirts, baggy trousers and boots), then we grabbed our sickles and headed outside. We walked through the calm village, then turned left and entered our private field. We walked up to a grave in the centre of the field. Donnel and I knelt before it.

"I hope you're watching over us Father, where ever you are." I whispered.

"Hey, I'll go harvest the crops on the left side, you harvest the ones on the right side." I told Donnel, he nodded. I was about to cut up the first of the wheat when I heard screaming. I froze, I heard Donnel approach me from behind.

"What was that?" He whispered. I heard more footsteps approaching the field entrance, on instinct I grabbed Donnel and fell on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Donnel hissed.

"Be quiet!" I replied, then made a small parting in the long wheat so I could see the entrance of the field. I saw a bunch of strange men stop at the field entrance.

"Heh that was easier than I thought it would be." A man with red hair and war paint laughed, it was a screechy sound that seemed to promise a painful demise. I shivered.

"Aye Roddick, without that pesky village 'defender' there it was a piece o' cake!" Another said. Donnel looked at me, his mouth wide open in shock. It was all I could do to prevent myself from rising from my hiding place and charging at the man. This was the cold hearted villain who had killed my father! I shivered in rage. I heard more footsteps, then they grew quieter. Slowly I got to my feet, I stretched my arms.

"You okay Donnel?" I asked my younger brother, he nodded. But before he could get up I felt a searing pain in my back, I face planted into the dirt.

"Ow." I thought, then rolled over and came face to face with a barbarian. It was the same one from before.

"What do we have 'ere then?" He muttered, then he grabbed me and hefted me into the air.

"A runaway villager huh? Well then laddie, you picked a bad time to get up from your little nap didn't ya?" I looked fearfully into his eyes, they were full of anger, rage and insanity. This man would certainly kill me without a second thought. Luckily, it seemed that he hadn't noticed Donnel yet. Donnel slowly rose to his feet and crept up behind the man.

"Hey! Leave my brother alone!" Donnel yelled, the man paused and dropped me. He turned around to face Donnel, a colossal grin etched on his face.

"Hah! Two villagers! Roddick will be pleased with me." He made a grab for Donnel but my brother dodged to the side. This went on for a bit before the barbarian paused and sighed in annoyance.  
>"Fine then. I guess one villager will have to do." He lifted his steel axe and I saw fear in Donnel's eyes. I acted on impulse, jumping at the barbarian's back. I whipped out my farming sickle from my belt and held it against the man's neck while I got a firm grip on his back.<p>

"Leave my brother alone." I hissed, the barbarian paused for a second. He began bucking, desperately trying to throw me off, or loosen my grip on my weapon. I felt myself losing grip, as the man bucked backwards, I let go. I heard a sickening 'thump' as I fell hard on the ground. I rose to my feet, and gasped, I had partially slit the man's throat. The hilt of my sickle had broken off and was still in my hand, but the edge was lodged in the man's throat. He glared at me.

"Y-you. Will. DIE!" He gurgled through the masses of blood coming from his mouth, he leapt at me. I stood there, paralysed by fear as the crazed barbarian sailed through the air, his axe gleaming and his eyes glared at me murderously. I shut my eyes and held my hands in front of my face, in a vain attempt to block the blow. The blow never came, I opened my eyes and felt a large weight on my hand, I looked down and saw the remains of my sickle in the man's rib cage, and he looked at me in shock.

"N-not possible." He breathed, then the light in his eyes went out and he slumped forwards. Dead. I looked at my brother, he was staring at me in awe, shock and fear. I glanced at my shaking hands, they were painted with blood. I vomited. I, the normal village farmer, had killed someone. I tried reassuring myself, saying it was me or him. I heard Donnel cautiously approach.

"Erik, are you okay?" He asked, I sobbed.

"Donnel. I-I'm a murderer." I whispered from in between sobs. I felt Donnel embrace me.

"He was murderer, Erik. I'm sure no one will miss him. Believe me, you did a good thing." He whispered. I clutched him, and sobbed. After I let all my tears flow, I got up.

"Donnel, we have to go." I whispered, he looked at me in outrage.

"Leave?! But what about Ma? Or everyone else? We can't just leave them." He said. I nodded.

"I know, but there's probably a lot of invaders. We need to go to the neighbouring village, we'll ask for help there." Donnel considered it, then nodded. I reached down and grabbed the fallen barbarians axe. I gave it to Donnel.

"Why are you giving this to me?" He asked.

"We might run into danger, if we do at least you can defend yourself." I whispered. Donnel thought for a moment before grasping the hilt of his sickle, he handed it to me. I accepted it gratefully, we ran towards the hills.

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><p><strong>Donnel POV<strong>

I followed my brother as we ran through the forest. I clutched the hilt of the steel axe, I hated it. The feel of a dead man's axe.

"We're almost there." Erik said. We emerged in a clearing. We could see the village in the distance.

"Yes! We made it!" I cried joyfully, I jogged forwards but was stopped by a gleaming blade that appeared out of nowhere.

"What do we have 'ere then?" The owner of the sword asked. I heard Erik curse, it was more of the invaders! Two more of them emerged from the trees. I looked at them. One was a myrmidon and two were barbarians. Erik was similarly trapped, as one barbarian had his axe edge at his neck. I gripped the steel axe hilt in fear, the myrmidon seemed to notice it for the first time.

"Wait a minute. I recognise that axe, where'd you get it laddie?" The swordsman asked, I could see it in his eyes. He knew already.

"From your dead buddy of course!" I said arrogantly, I tried to sound as confident as possible, hopefully these men would all come after me and give Erik some time to escape.

"Grr. You arrogant little dastard." I heard the man growl, I saw his sword arm twitch. I followed my instincts and ducked as the man pulled back his sword, the sword was thrust above me, where my head was a moment ago. I slashed blindly with my axe, but it didn't feel right in my hands. It felt heavy and slow. The man easily blocked it with his sword.

"Heh. You don't know how to use it do you kid?" He said, then chuckled.

"Well then, you're as good as dead!" He thrust forward with his sword at shocking speeds, I fell down and could only watch as the sword moved in slow motion towards my heart. I heard Erik scream my name. I closed my eyes and smiled sadly.

"Sorry Ma, I wasn't good enough to save you." There was a 'thump' but I didn't feel any pain. Maybe you weren't supposed to feel pain, maybe I was in the afterlife already! I opened my eyes and was met with a blinding white light. I immediately shut my eyes, then cautiously opened them again. When my eyes came into focus, I saw the myrmidon on the floor, dead, and a woman with pink hair holding a bloody sword.

"Are you okay?" She asked shyly. I could only nod. I was stunned.

"A-aye." I said, I heard grunting to my left. I saw Erik frantically dodging axe strikes from the two barbarians, he had gotten free! Without thinking I grabbed the fallen myrmidon's sword and threw it at Erik.

"Catch!" I yelled. Erik looked at me, caught the sword somehow and held it in a position that made it look like he'd used a sword for years in one smooth motion. The two barbarians paused for second, now wary because their prey had a weapon. One of them leapt towards Erik, at the last possible moment Erik stepped to the side and brought his weapon down on the passing man. It cut him in half, the strange woman and I stared in shock at Erik's skill with the sword. The other barbarian recovered from his shock, in anger he charged towards Erik and swung his axe wildly. Erik stepped forwards and caught the axe grip with the side of his sword. The colliding metal made a loud high pitched sound. I saw fear in the barbarian's eyes.

"Never, threaten my little brother!" I heard Erik hiss threateningly. He pushed against the axe, and it was flung from the man's grip. Erik pulled back his bloody sword and stabbed the man in the gut, he was dead in moments. Erik pulled his sword from the corpse and it crumpled to the ground.

"Erik. What was that?" I asked astonished.

"I-I don't know." He replied. I raised an eyebrow.

"You don't know?!"

"No. It was the heat of the moment I guess." He mumbled, then he looked at the woman. He knelt.

"Thank you for saving my little brother. You don't know how much he means to me." The woman looked flustered.

"I, um, well kind of need your help." She said. Erik and I looked at her curiously.

"My friends are being attacked, and I was sent to go to that village," She pointed at the neighbouring village, "To find help." She finished.

"Where are these people?" Erik asked seriously. I chuckled, Erik was the type of person who always helped others, even without a reason to.

"Well you might need a weapon, if you want to help." She looked at me, I noticed I was still holding the axe. I dropped it.

"No. I'm never using that axe again." I said seriously. The woman looked deep in thought before she walked over to the myrmidon corpse. She inspected it for a moment before exclaiming in delight, she pulled out a shiny iron sword.

"Here. Use this one." She said. I accepted it gratefully. I noticed that the corpse also had two sword sheaths. I grabbed both, and gave one to Erik. He took it, and put it over his shoulder. The sheath had a long strap that attached a belt and the shoulder strap together, the sheath for his sword hung at his side. He sheathed his sword, then made sure it was secure. I did the same. We followed the woman as she ran from the clearing, towards the distant sound of fighting.

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><p><strong>Erik POV<strong>

We came to the edge of the forest, and were greeted by the sight of two armies colliding. One was obviously the woman's side, as she jumped in to help a losing team mate. But the other was strange, the enemies moved unlike any human I'd ever seen, and they could survive fatal blows. I saw a soldier stab one in the gut, but it simply raised its axe and brought it down on the man's head. He went down instantly. With cold dread I realised that these were no ordinary humans.

"Look out Erik!" I heard Donnel scream, I side stepped just as a sword whistled down beside me. I drew my sword, Donnel did the same. As the figure struggled to balance themselves, Donnel and I swung our swords. We stopped them just before the neck, trapping the figure from both sides. It looked at me, I stared in shock. It was no human, it was a monster. It raised its sword, as if to swing down at me. Donnel reacted instantly, he pushed his sword forwards. The decapitated head dissolved into darkness, as did the rest of the monster's body.

"W-what was that thing?" Donnel said. I stared in shock.

"I don't know." I replied. I heard a woman scream, I looked around and saw the same pink haired woman from before. She was cornered by two of the strange monsters. I saw a couple of people rush towards her, but they weren't going to get there in time. Only Donnel and I were close. I acted without thinking, I rushed towards the back of the most threatening looking monster. I raised my sword and slashed while running, my momentum brought my sword straight through the body of the monster, and it dissolved in darkness.

"Are you okay?" I asked the woman, without taking an eye off the final monster.

"Y-yes. Thank you." She said. The other monster chose this moment to rush at me, its sword gleamed. I only had enough time to raise my own sword to block before it slammed its sword into me. I was pushed back and I fought desperately to keep upright, if I fell now I would never get up again. I saw Donnel behind the monster, watching in shock.

"Donnel! Help me!" I cried, he nodded and charged at the monster while yelling. I understood what he was trying to do as the monster shifted his attention to him. It raised its sword, intending to bring it down on my brother's head.

"No!" I yelled. I slashed at the monster's leg, severing it off. The monster tumbled and its sword missed my brother by a hairs width. Donnel brought his sword forward and stabbed the thing in the gut. It dissolved. I turned around and offered my hand to the woman, who was still on the ground.

"Thank you." She said, I smiled sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it. I'm Erik, this is Donnel." I introduced myself and my brother to the woman. She smiled.

"I'm Olivia." She said. I heard people approach. I turned around and came face to face with King Chrom, ruler of Ylisse. Donnel and I knelt immediately. Chrom chuckled.

"Your highness." We both said. I felt a hand on my shoulder, looking up I was surprised to find it was Chrom.

"No need for formalities." He said. My brother and I rose to our feet.

"You two have skill with the sword. Where did you learn to fight?" Chrom asked.

"Do you want the truth?" I asked, he nodded.

"About 10 minutes ago." I said. He looked at me stunned.

"Really? Why 10 minutes ago?" I sucked in a breath and told Chrom exactly what had happened just before.

After finishing my story, Chrom looked deep in thought.

"Where is your village?" He asked. I pointed towards the hills.

"Chrom. We should go help them." A man with white hair said.

"Yes, we should Robin. Shepherds! We march for the village!" Chrom announced.  
>"Thank you Lord Chrom." I bowed, he grinned. The shepherds marched towards our captured home.<p>

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><p>We arrived at the village very quickly. I sucked in a breath. Almost all the houses were on fire, and there was dead bodies scattered around, most of them were males. I heard laughing and screaming in the distance.<p>

"All right everyone! We're going to use a pincer tactic. Half of you will go tha- Hey! Wait where are you two going?" Robin announced, I was so angry. I ran towards the screaming, Donnel followed me. I saw a bunch of barbarians and archers in the centre of the village. I drew my sword and slashed at one who didn't know I was there. He went down instantly. The others finally saw me and Donnel.

"Hey! Stop them!" But they couldn't not a single arrow or axe touched me. Which was odd, because I saw them fire arrows and I saw axes coming down at me. They seemed to just bounce off. But I couldn't worry about that now. I came up beside a barbarian, he hefted his axe and swung it down at me, I blocked with my sword. It was only then that I realised my sword was glowing white! The axe collided with my sword, but instead of feeling the recoil the axe melted right before my eyes. I struck the man, and he burst into flames before disappearing. I snuck a glance at Donnel, to see he was experiencing the same weird form. In minutes, the entire mini army was dead. I collapsed on the floor, exhausted.

"You okay, Donnel?" I gasped, he nodded. With great reluctance I got myself to stand up. I felt as if the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I slowly walked towards my own house, I heard screaming inside. As I came up to the door, I peeked inside. I saw my mother with a knife at her throat, the knife was held by the figure I hated most. Roddick. I caught my mother's eyes, her eyes widened in shock but she didn't say anything. I crept up behind Roddick.

"Let go of my mother!" I said, Roddick reacted immediately. He let go and swung his axe behind him, but I had predicted this and had already ducked. Roddick turned around.

"So, it's you. The village 'defenders' son." Roddick spat out. I grinned, then struck as quick as a viper. But Roddick wasn't going to fall as easily as his men, he blocked the strike and swung his axe. I tried to jump back felt the smooth wood of the wall against my back. I quickly ducked and the axe shaved off a bit of my hair. I needed more room to manoeuver about. I raced outside and ran down an alleyway, Roddick followed close behind.

"You can't run forever boy!" He taunted, I ignored him and raced down another alleyway. I emerged in a clearing.

"You're cornered now!" Roddick said triumphantly. I smiled again.

"No Roddick. I just led you into my trap." As soon as I said that, the Shepherds appeared from behind the tree. Donnel emerged from the alleyway. Roddick's triumphant grin turned into a look of terror.

"B-but how!" He stuttered. I rolled my eyes.

"Well it's pretty simple Roddick. We use plans, you don't. I told Donnel my plan and he told the Shepherds. You won't leave here alive Roddick." I said. I gripped my sword and swung, Roddick raised his axe to block but an arrow suddenly embedded itself in his arm. Forcing him to drop the weapon, I looked over to see Virion nod at me. I was about to bring my sword down on Roddick's head when he punched me in the gut. I grunted in pain, and flew back. I sat up dazed, and I realised I wasn't holding my sword anymore. I looked up to see Roddick holding my sword, poised in a position to stab me.

"Not so arrogant now, are you boy?" I didn't give him the satisfaction of looking scared, but I was panicking on the inside. Roddick was about to strike me when he coughed. Blood splattered on my face, he looked down in shock. I realised that there was a sword poking out from his chest.

"W-what?" He mumbled, then fell down. He was dead. I saw Olivia standing behind him, with a serious look on her face. I smiled.

"Thanks, Olivia." I said, she blushed. Chrom came up to me, Donnel followed me.

"That was incredible you two! You both have the makings of true Sword Masters!" He exclaimed. Robin then came up.

"Hey, you two." He said. I looked at him curiously.

"I have a proposition to make." Robin said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Well, if you two join the Shepherds. We'll post Ylissean Guards around your village. We could use people with skills like yours, and your village would be protected while you were away." Donnel and I looked at him in shock. I was about to refuse when I heard a familiar voice.

"Erik, Donnel, do it." Our Mother said. I looked at her in shock.

"You two are grown up now. It what your Father would've wanted. He was soldier before, and he could never get used to a peaceful life." She said. I stared at her in shock, then steeled my nerves. I looked back at Robin.

"I accept." I said. Donnel agreed with me. Robin and Chrom smiled.

"Very well then." We leave tomorrow." Chrom said.

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><p>The next morning, Donnel and I had packed everything we'd need. We also had our swords with us. We hugged Mother and said our goodbyes.<p>

"I cannot thank you two enough for saving all of us. We'll all pray that Naga keeps you safe on your travels." The Village Elder said, Donnel and I nodded. I saw a single tear run down his cheek.

We walked up the hill towards the Shepherds camp. Olivia noticed us first.

"Oh! Chrom! Robin! They're here!" She shouted. Chrom and Robin emerged from a tent to our left.

"Well then. Welcome to the Shepherds you two." Robin said.

"Thanks." I said.

"Thank you." Donnel said. Chrom smiled.

"All right, Shepherds! We continue to march to Plegia!" The Shepherds cheered. That was the day my whole life changed…. For the better.

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><p><strong>That's Chapter 1! I hope you all enjoyed. I welcome reviews, good or bad! And a favourite wouldn't hurt either! Thanks for reading!<strong>

**For those of you that are wondering, Erik and Donnel arrive in the Shepherds at around the point of Chapter 13. **


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